Durant Views Green & Bosh As Similar Players

Well, the gist of the article is discussing the possibility of the Thunder being a option for OKC to sign Bosh this summer, but after all that Larry Coon reaffirms that the Thunder just don't have enough cap space to sign Bosh unless it was a "sign & trade" in how they acquired him.

Anyhow, the comment by Durant is what caught my attention in this article. Does anyone else see any similarities between Chris Bosh and Jeff Green because I don't see it.

Coon points out there is only one other option if the Thunder was sold on acquiring Bosh’s services — a sign-and-trade with Toronto. Under league rules, teams can sign their own free agents with the sole intent of trading them. But it’s a complicated maneuver in which both teams and the player must agree to a deal. It would require the Thunder to include roughly $6.6 million in the deal and likely mandate a few more assets for the rights to Bosh.

"But it could work out to everyone’s advantage,” said Coon, a computer scientist and information technology director with the University of California-Irvine by day. "Bosh gets a bigger contract by signing with Toronto, OKC gets a player they can’t otherwise afford, and Toronto gets something back for a player they’d otherwise lose for nothing.”

That kind of deal, however, would blow up Oklahoma City’s cap status with a likely maximum extension for Kevin Durant kicking in before the start of the 2011-12 season and a high-dollar deal for Russell Westbrook being tendered a year later. It remains to be seen whether Thunder management is willing to test its small market revenue and splurge on a luxury-tax level payroll.

Another potential concern whether Bosh would even fit with the team’s current nucleus is available points. With Durant, Westbrook, Jeff Green and James Harden, the Thunder already has four young players capable of posting 20 points on any given night.

"Bosh is a great player, an All-Star,” said Green, the incumbent power forward who would be affected most by the addition of Bosh. "You never know how he would fit in because he’s a guy who demands the ball. He’s a great player, but who knows what will happen. That’s not up to me to say that he’ll fit great here because I’m still here.”

Durant said he thinks Bosh would fit from a chemistry standpoint because the Thunder is filled with "likeable guys.” But despite the current difference in their statistical production, Durant said he views Green and Bosh as similar players.

"Jeff is on his way to that,” Durant said of Green. "It’s only his third season, and he’s playing phenomenal for us. He’s a guy just like that with versatility to go inside and out. He causes different matchup problems and makes it easier for everybody on the floor. So that’s who we look at to be that kind of guy.

"But I’m glad we have the guys we have here. And we’re all young, so I’d like to see our core grow.”

I don't about Thunder fans, but they've got something special with the guys that they have right now. I say ride it out and perhaps add some cheaper veteran players this summer and see what happens. Why go for the big splash right now?